It's a big weekend with Yankees-Red Sox, Cubs-Cardinals, Dodgers-Phillies and Astros-A's. And what series has the highest combined win total? Twins-Rays at the Trop, of course.

Here's what we're most excited to see:

With the Twins and Rays, two likely playoff teams, meeting this weekend, our thoughts turned to successful small-market teams. What's your favorite small-market success story since MLB salaries exploded in the late 1990s?

Eddie Matz: Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, I have to go with the Rays and their six-year run from 2008 through 2013. When they made the World Series in 2008, their Opening Day payroll of $44 million was the second-lowest in baseball. Over the next five years, they averaged more than 90 wins per season, and they continued to do it with chump change. And a nonstop stream of draft hits that included David Price, James Shields, Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, just to name a few. (Honorable mention to the 2014-15 Royals.)

Sam Miller: Recency bias and all that, but there's something inspiring to me about what they've done in Cleveland these past seven years. This is one of the smallest markets in baseball -- the Indians were in the bottom third of attendance even the year after going to the World Series; they were the city in "Major League," for goodness sake -- but they never seem doomed or overmatched, never tear down and go into crass three-year rebuilds. They're now playing for their seventh consecutive winning season, and have made the playoffs four of the past six years; no American League team has won more games, despite modest (and sometimes worse) payrolls. And the great John Hart General Manager Tree that was planted in the early 1990s is now responsible for something like a third of all team executives in baseball.

David Schoenfield: The 2008 Rays are probably the biggest single-season surprise in this era, as they went from 10 consecutive 90-loss seasons -- every season of their existence -- to that World Series defeat and then were able to sustain it. But we haven't had a movie on that team, so I have to go with the Moneyball A's, who made four straight playoff trips from 2000 through 2003, winning, respectively, 91, 102, 103 and 96 games (and followed with seasons of 91, 88 and 93 wins, including a division title in 2006). Billy Beane had back-to-back 100-win seasons -- that's more 100-win seasons than the Red Sox have had in the past 72 years.

Coming off a 97-win season, the A's -- who host Houston this weekend -- were looking like a significant disappointment before running off a 10-game winning streak to get on the plus side of .500. Was that run a fluke or a sign that Oakland will be in the playoff hunt the rest of the way?

Matz: Considering last year's playoff run, Oakland's slow start this year was surprising. Considering the tough early-season schedule (11 April games vs. Boston and Houston), not so much. It's worth noting that the A's victimized two weak opponents during that recent streak (Tigers, Mariners). But it's also worth noting that last year's magical run started at almost exactly the same point in the season. So maybe there's something about May. (Didn't the Farrelly brothers already make that movie?) Oakland won't win the West, but it should definitely be in the hunt. If the A's can get some of their gimpy hurlers back in time (especially top prospect Jesus Luzardo), they might even be able to sneak past the Tampa York Indian Sox for that second wild-card spot.

Miller: The Moneyball A's of 2002 were under .500 in early June, and ended up winning 103 games and the AL West. The 2012 A's were at literally zero percent playoff odds at the start of July and ended up winning 94 games and the AL West. Last year's A's were under .500 in mid-June and ended up winning 97 games and the wild card. That's all to say that, beside the A's being a good team (97 wins last year!), they've got the era's best record of making midseason adjustments to turn stuff around, and I never say bad things about them between the months of May and August.

Schoenfield: I look at the rotation and have a hard time seeing the A's as a playoff team. But then I look at the non-Houston teams in the AL West and I can definitely see the A's as a potential playoff team. Bob Melvin and pitching coach Scott Emerson pieced together the rotation last year and they're starting to do it again, getting All-Star-caliber work from Frankie Montas plus solid results from Brett Anderson and Chris Bassitt. The A's won 97 last year thanks in large part to a 31-14 record in one-run games. They're 8-8 this year. My guess is they fall short ... unless they figure out how to beat the Astros a few times.

The Cubs and Cardinals square off in St. Louis. When the teams met previously, St. Louis had the best record in the National League at 20-11. Since then, the Cards are 7-17. What gives?

Matz: The offense has been all or nothing, with a heavy emphasis on nothing. Take away the three games in which they scored double digits, the Cards are averaging less than 3 runs per contest during their recent stink-a-thon. Pretty much everyone not named Matt Wieters is slumping. The back end of the rotation hasn't been good, and neither has the bullpen. But other than that, everything's hunky-dory in the The Lou.

Miller: They're 0-7 in one-run games during that stretch, which can make a team look (and feel!) a lot worse than they actually are. I'm not saying they've played well -- and seeing over-30 hitters such as Matt Carpenter, Yadier Molina and Paul Goldschmidt in various states of decline is especially worrisome in this youth-centric era -- but it's not as though they're being dominated every day. This still looks to me like a competitive team that could post close to 90 wins.

Schoenfield: Maybe this is just who the Cardinals are? They won 88 last year, 83 in 2017, 86 in 2016, missing the playoffs all three years. One year it's the bullpen, one year it's the defense, one year it's the lack of power, last year it was blame Mike Matheny. It's always something. Maybe the front office just isn't building a good enough team. This year, it's not so much that they have bad players who are weighing them down, but only Paul DeJong is really having an exceptional season (although he's hit poorly with runners in scoring position) and the starting rotation has been extremely homer-prone. At this point, they're counting on a bunch of 30-somethings -- Molina, Carpenter, Goldschmidt, Adam Wainwright, Andrew Miller -- to improve, and that might not be realistic.

There's no shortage of interesting matchups this weekend. What are you most looking forward to?

Matz: When I first met Lucas Giolito at Nationals spring training a few years ago, I was convinced he was the next big thing. Not long after Washington shipped him to Chicago as part of the bounty in the Adam Eaton trade, I was convinced that Giolito was the next big flop. Now, after an awful 2018 campaign with the White Sox, he's crushing it. All of which proves ... I know nothing (Jon Snow). What I do know is that Giolito had been nearly unhittable lately, and I can't wait to see if he can keep it up against Cleveland on Sunday.

Miller: Last summer, when the A's took three out of four against the Astros (and lost the one only on a freakish walk-off play), that was when we all had to really sit up and pay attention to what was happening in Oakland. Realistically, the Astros are probably going to run away with the AL West this year. They're the best team in baseball. But the A's have a chance to make a statement this weekend, especially facing Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Schoenfield: Twins-Rays is fun, but the series will be played inside a half-empty domed stadium. Phillies at Dodgers, on the other hand, is also fun and will be played outside, with big crowds, fans booing Bryce Harper and cheering for Cody Bellinger, and Clayton Kershaw taking the hill Saturday. It's a potential playoff preview.

PICK 'EM TIME

The Red Sox and Yankees meet for a three-game series in New York, with Boston having ground to make up on its division-leading rival. Will the Red Sox win the series? (The finale is on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball at 7 p.m. ET.)

Matz: David Price, whose numbers at Yankee Stadium since joining the Red Sox have been scarier than Vincent Price, was slated to go Sunday. Thanks to Thursday's rainout, though, Price might luck out and miss the Bombers. But as well as New York has been playing, it probably won't matter. Could the Sox win? Sure. Will they win? In the words of Magic 8-Ball, "Don't count on it."

Miller: The Red Sox have played nine series against teams with .500 or better records this year, and they've lost seven of those series. As Eddie says, of course they could. But you'd have to strain the meaning of probabilities to conclude they're likely to win two out of three on the road against a superior Yankees team.

Schoenfield: The Yankees just tagged three home runs off my man Chris Paddack. Apparently nobody can stop these guys. It's Gio Urshela's world and we're all just along for the ride.

Two of the NL's top sluggers this season -- the Brewers' Christian Yelich and the Pirates' Josh Bell -- will be in Pittsburgh this weekend. Who will have more total bases: Yelich or Bell?

Matz: Hitters don't come any hotter than Bell, who has 34 hits in his past 33 at-bats. During that stretch, he has 35 homers and 141 RBIs. (Math myth notwithstanding, I'm taking Bell here.)

Schoenfield: As Ernest Hemingway wrote in "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "There is nothing else than now. There is neither yesterday, certainly, nor is there any tomorrow. How old must you be before you know that? There is only now, and if now is only two days, then two days is your life and everything in it will be in proportion. This is how you live a life in two days. And if you stop complaining and asking for what you never will get, you will have a good life." Indeed. There is only now. And right now, Josh Bell is crushing it.

Miller: Wow, my colleagues are just completely ignoring that the most relevant thing we know about these players is that Christian Yelich is the better baseball player! So I'll take Yelich. And doesn't hurt that PNC Park, which favors left-handed hitters, has been Yelich's favorite road park in his career: .352/.414/.590 in 26 career games.

In a season of amazing rookie debuts, the Braves' Austin Riley might be rising to the head of the class.

Riley's total bases this weekend against the Tigers: over or under 9.5?

Matz: If a certain former Detroit hurler and lefty submariner were still playing, we could've been treated to Austin's power vs. Mike Myers. But alas, Myers retired over a decade ago. Instead, Riley gets the top of the Tigers rotation (Matthew Boyd and Spencer Turnbull), which will help limit him to six total bases this weekend.

Miller: There is a Mike Mayers pitching for the Cardinals, but that's neither here nor there. Under.

Schoenfield: By my count, there have been 23 players with the first name of "Austin" to play in the major leagues -- and all but three of those debuted after 2000 (and most of those after 2010). One of those early Austins was Austin McHenry, who hit .350 with 17 home runs and 102 RBIs for the 1921 Cardinals -- ranking third in the National League in average, fourth in home runs and third in RBIs. He was 25 years old and his future was glimmering bright. He was hitting .303 the next year but feared he was going blind because he had trouble seeing the ball. He was sent home. He was dead from a brain tumor before the end of the calendar year. So, as you think of Austin Riley and his remarkable start, think of what could have been for Austin McHenry. Enjoy the ride. (I'll take the over.)

TWO TRUE OUTCOMES

Each week, we ask our panelists to choose one hitter they think will hit the most home runs and one pitcher they think will record the most strikeouts in the coming weekend. Panelists can pick a player only once for the season. We'll keep a running tally -- and invite you to play along at home.

Home run hitters

Matz: Mike Trout

Miller: Josh Bell. Yes, I'm taking him over Christian Yelich. There's no rule about consistency in this feature.

Schoenfield: I was going to pick Mike Trout and write, "Time to stop fooling around with dumb picks like Ian Desmond." Alas, Eddie beat me to him. I'll go Cody Bellinger. Time to stop fooling around with dumb picks like Ian Desmond.

Strikeout pitchers

Matz: Gerrit Cole

Miller: Caleb Smith

Schoenfield: Justin Verlander

Catch all the analyses, stats, tweets and chatter from the Pakistan v West Indies game. If you don't see the blog immediately below, please refresh the page

TORONTO -- For the first time since tearing his left quad on April 15, Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins returned to action Thursday night in a 118-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Cousins finished with two points, two assists and two steals in eight minutes.

"It felt good," Cousins said. "It felt good to be a part of the energy tonight. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't take any of these moments for granted. To be out there on the floor tonight in this atmosphere was an incredible feeling. I'm extremely happy to be a part of it and I enjoyed the moment."

Cousins checked into the game for the first time at the beginning of the second quarter -- the first time since April 5, 2013, that he entered a game as a reserve. The fact that Cousins was back on the floor at all is impressive given that the Warriors initially categorized him as being "unlikely" to return after the injury, but the reality for the group is that the big man struggled to find his rhythm after a long layoff.

Cousins is still working on his conditioning and mobility as he works his way back, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr tried to accentuate the positives of his return after the loss.

"I thought DeMarcus did a really nice job," Kerr said. "Made some great passes, we could run some offense through him. It's so early in the process for him. He played eight minutes and I thought his minutes were good, but it's a huge adjustment to play after a six-week, seven-week absence, especially at this level in the NBA Finals against a team that is pretty fast already. So I thought he did really well and we'll look at the tape, and we'll see what we decide to do with his role going forward."

What the Warriors know is that they can't count on Kevin Durant to return in Game 2 as he continues to rehab a right calf injury. Kerr said before Game 1 that Durant, who hasn't played since injuring the calf on May 8, has yet to be cleared for practice and called it a "long shot" that clearance would come while the Warriors were in Toronto.

The Warriors haven't officially ruled him out for Game 2 yet, but they refuse to use his absence as an excuse.

"KD's an all-time great player on both ends of the floor," Curry said. "So I could sit here and talk for days about what he adds to our roster. We obviously have proven that when he's out we have -- we can have guys step up, and that's going to be the case until he gets back."

As the Warriors wait for Durant's return, they'll also have to monitor Andre Iguodala's left leg as he continues to deal with some soreness. Iguodala, who missed Game 4 of the Western Conference finals because of a left calf injury, came down awkwardly on his left leg with 1:55 remaining in regulation on Thursday night.

While there didn't appear to be much concern, as Iguodala walked out of ScotiaBank Arena, Kerr noted that the Warriors would have an update on Friday.

"I think he's doing OK," Kerr said.

Thursday's Game 1 loss marked the first time in the Kerr era that the Warriors dropped Game 1 of a Finals series. It's a mark the proud group was not worried about much at all.

"They obviously played well, but our confidence remains the same," Curry said. "Block out all the noise about how, what these are firsts and this and that and kind of the doubt around our team. It's just come out and play hard, get Game 2, and take it from there. So I like the vibe. I say it a lot, but I like the vibe that we have in the locker room in terms of everybody focusing on what they need to do differently and the overall energy bump that we need to have and then go steal Game 2."

The confidence Curry described within the group echoed throughout the Golden State locker room.

"Our goal was to get one," Warriors swingman Klay Thompson said. "And it's still on the table for us. So I know we'll respond like the champions we are."

TORONTO -- When you are champions, you stick with what got you here. For the Golden State Warriors, the formula in these 2019 playoffs had been fairly transparent: identify the best player on the opposing team -- see James Harden and Damian Lillard -- and harangue him into a night of frustration and disappointment.

Thus, the blueprint against the Toronto Raptors was to reduce Kawhi Leonard's basketball life to misery, or at the very least considerable discomfort. Blitz him, double him, triple him if necessary, force him to give up the ball and dare the others to beat you.

It was a sound strategy on paper -- except the "others" were not only expecting it, they were aiming to exploit it. So, it was a collection of "complementary" Raptors who vaulted Toronto to win Game 1 of the NBA Finals 118-109 in a raucous Scotiabank Arena, delivering a roundhouse right to a team that so often has seemed invincible.

On a night when Leonard, who had been the most transcendent player in the playoffs, was a mere mortal, players such as Pascal Siakam happily filled the void. Siakam, the 24-year old forward who once was on a path to the priesthood -- until a visit, on a lark, to a summer basketball camp in his native Cameroon detoured him on an improbable basketball journey -- scored 32 points on 14-of-17 shooting. It was a prolific performance that would have been unthinkable two short years ago, when he was a raw, unpolished player who couldn't shoot.

At all.

"I was joking with him the other day," teammate Fred VanVleet told ESPN. "We used to shoot together in my rookie year, and me and the guy rebounding used to duck sometimes because his shots would come off the rim so hard.

"He had some bad misses. But what you are seeing now is the result of a lot of hard work. You can just see his confidence soaring."

The same can be said of VanVleet, who struggled mightily in earlier rounds of the playoffs but, following the birth of his young son, has rediscovered his shooting stroke.

Then there's center Marc Gasol, who heard all the chatter about how this was a poor matchup for him, particularly if DeMarcus Cousins found his way onto the court (he did, in an unremarkable eight-minute cameo). Gasol was also a benefactor of the exorbitant amount of attention paid to Leonard, scoring 20 points and stretching the floor for his teammates on what Warriors coach Steve Kerr termed "dare shots."

"Dare, no dare, if you are open, you shoot them," Gasol said.

Said Van Vleet: "Kawhi has been having such an unbelievable playoff run, I think it would have been disrespectful not to give him a lot of attention. We know that. We've been dealing with that all of these playoffs.

"You can see teams try to balance it -- 'should we help too much; are we not helping enough?' For the rest of us, it means we've got to be ready for the opportunity when the kickouts come."

Even Danny Green, who hadn't drilled a 3-pointer since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, hit three of them Thursday night.

And yet, in a spirited Raptors locker room after the game, the topic of discussion was not their marksmen, but a collective defensive effort that held a terrifying Golden State lineup in check.

Stephen Curry (34 points), per usual, got his, but the Raptors took turns bumping and chasing him and his Splash Brother Klay Thompson. They weren't stopped, but contained, and that was good enough.

"We've tried to hang our hat on our defense all year,'' Kyle Lowry said. "One thing about Golden State is you can't give them space. When we did, Steph and Klay made every shot."

It was Curry's 11 first-quarter points that kept Golden State within striking distance in the opening frame. In fact, for all the good vibes the Raptors' shooters were experiencing, the Warriors were constantly lurking. Because the defending champions can score so quickly and in such explosive fashion, even when Toronto pushed the lead to double digits, it never quite felt safe.

But as Siakam continued to wreak havoc in transition, the Raptors were able to maintain their lead wire to wire.

The most critical shot of the night came courtesy of VanVleet with 3:20 to play, shortly after the Warriors had cut the deficit to 10, 108-98. With the shot clock ticking down, VanVleet found himself pinned in the corner and let one fly. The shot rolled halfway down, halfway back up, and finally settled on counting after all.

"Klay didn't leave me as much as I thought he would, so I didn't have a clean look right away,'' VanVleet said. "By the time I thought about it, there was only one second left, so I got a little separation, a little look, a little bit of luck.

"About time, you know? I was in a little slump, but now I've got some of those in the bank."

The Warriors were hardly devastated by the events of Game 1, though they were most certainly irritated by them. They once again exhibited their maddening tendency to be careless with the basketball, and the Raptors transformed their 16 turnovers into 17 points.

Golden State also recognizes it needs to do a better job of limiting Siakam in the open floor and identifying Toronto's shooters.

"Our transition D was horrible,'' Draymond Green said. "You give guys those type of shots, they get comfortable and it's a different beast."

Said Curry: "You can't give [Siakam] any dare shots, and you can't give him any straight-line drives to the basket. That's just an effort thing we all can be more mindful of."

No coach wants to hear their players admit they need to be mindful about more effort; the Warriors' swagger has always been their greatest strength -- and their greatest weakness. And while acknowledging being up 1-0 is better than being down 1-0 -- something this group has never experienced in the Finals -- Shaun Livingston insisted his team embraces these moments. "I like the vibe," Curry said.

The Game 1 loss did one thing, for sure: It quelled the notion the Warriors will cruise to a title with or without Kevin Durant, who probably will miss Game 2 as he continues to heal from his calf strain. Toronto expects to see KD at some point in the series -- and will plan accordingly. As Leonard pointed out, "[Durant] can score 30 in his sleep."

After Thursday, the Raptors can be sure of one thing: The champions might have been slumbering before. But they are most definitely awake now.

LOS ANGELES -- Hyun-Jin Ryu was all but untouchable in May.

His final start of the month was no different Thursday night as the left-hander pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning of his latest dominant outing, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-0 win over the New York Mets.

Chris Taylor tripled off hard-luck loser Jason Vargas to start the bottom of the first and scored when Max Muncy followed with a double. That was all the offense for either team until Enrique Hernandez singled home an insurance run with two outs in the eighth.

Ryu (8-1) struck out seven and walked one in 7⅔ innings, lowering his major league-best ERA to 1.48. Kenley Jansen got four outs for his 16th save as the NL West leaders took three of four in the series.

Ryu went 5-0 in six May starts with a 0.59 ERA, 36 strikeouts and only three walks.

"The month of May was incredible," he said through an interpreter. "I've always told everyone how I wanted to do my job as a starting pitcher, meaning I wanted to throw six to seven innings and put the team in a position where we can win. I've always said that, but I haven't necessarily executed the way I wanted. This month of May I was able to do that. I do feel that's unbelievable."

Ryu's 0.59 ERA is the lowest by a Dodgers starter in any month since Clayton Kershaw had a 0.27 ERA in July 2015.

Ryu, who left to a standing ovation, has 69 strikeouts and only five walks in 11 games. He has won his past eight starts at home, and fans rewarded him with adoration.

Asked if Ryu is his ace, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said: "We have a lot of aces. Hyun-Jin is throwing the ball really well. Tonight you look at where we were at as far as the pen and needing him to go deep into the game and he knew that and he executed and did that. Just his feel, I say every time he starts, and his ability to execute pitches, change speeds, work to all zones, get soft contact, get seven punches, one walk. Worked quick. Keeps defense involved. We needed Hyun-Jin and he answered the bell once again."

The Dodgers, who boast the top record in the National League at 38-19, have won 16 of the past 19 matchups with the Mets.

With one out in the ninth, Pete Alonso was awarded first base on a hit by pitch even though replays seemed to show the ball hit his bat and not his hand or forearm. Alonso even returned to home plate and waited with his lumber in hand as the play was reviewed, yet the call on the field was upheld.

Sent back to first base, Alonso chuckled a bit as he chatted with David Freese.

Jansen then struck out Todd Frazier, who threw his bat wildly at a ball in the dirt, and retired Carlos Gomez on a harmless fly to end it.

Vargas, a California native, gave up only one run and six hits in a season-high seven innings that mostly spared a taxed Mets bullpen. He needed 26 pitches to get through the first, but settled in after that. Vargas (1-3) struck out six and walked three -- two in the first inning.

"I think just effectively pitching down," he said. "That's key for me in general, but after the first couple innings got settled and worked out a couple issues with guys on second base. I think it was just a matter of pitching down and expanding."

Ryu didn't run into trouble until the seventh when Alonso hit a leadoff double. The left-hander retired the next three batters with ease, two via groundouts.

Taylor's leadoff triple was a sinking liner that got under the glove and past a charging J.D. Davis as he made a dive for the ball in left field.

Hernandez's jam-shot single in the eighth off of Hector Santiago scored Freese, who doubled and finished with two hits.

With two outs and a runner on in the eighth, Jansen entered and struck out pinch hitter Dominic Smith, reacting with a fist pump.

But it was Ryu who was the star of the game again.

"He mixes it up better than I've seen in a long time," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "There's no pattern whatsoever. He drives his arm through every pitch and sells everything, whether it's a changeup, curveball. He gets through it."

ROAD WOES

The Mets fell to 12-22 away from home and are 2-7-1 in road series.

STEALING SIGNS?

Callaway verbalized his suspicion that the Dodgers were stealing signs after Wednesday's game in a New York Post report. Asked to respond to the accusation, Roberts said: "I think, for us, we feel that we go up there and play 27 outs every night the best way we can. If we come up short, it's a combo that we didn't play well and giving the other team credit. I guess if they feel differently about the quality of at-bats we put up against these guys was not as a result of our talent and preparation, then that's their decision. I can't change their thoughts."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: 3B Justin Turner (hamstring) felt a little tightness in his hamstring when he scored in the ninth inning Wednesday night. He was given Thursday off but was available off the bench. ... LHP Tony Cingrani (shoulder) has still not been cleared for baseball activities after having his shoulder re-evaluated.

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Zack Wheeler (4-3, 4.63 ERA) pitches Friday night in Arizona. He has 41 strikeouts in five May starts but a 4.19 ERA during that span.

Dodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (6-2, 3.67) takes the ball at home against Philadelphia. He has won his past three starts.

Cricket South Africa's transformation targets will not apply at the World Cup, and that's just fine with Kagiso Rabada, who believes that transformation "should happen at the grassroots".

"At a professional level, players should be picked on merit," Rabada told ESPNcricinfo in an exclusive interview recently. "For me, transformation is all about getting an opportunity. I feel that players or people should be given the opportunity as much as possible."

CSA's transformation policy requires that the national team has an average of 55% (or six) players of colour in each game across formats during any given season. They didn't quite hit those targets over the last season, with injuries to players such as Lungi Ngidi and JP Duminy contributing to that, but the rise - and success - of players such as Rabada is sometimes presented as proof that transformation works.

Yet it might also be argued that the opportunities afforded to Rabada in early life were more important than any targets that might have been in place during his career. Rabada went to the prestigious St Stithians College in Johannesburg, while Ngidi attended Hilton College - South Africa's most expensive high school. Andile Phehlukwayo, the only other black player in South Africa's World Cup squad, attended Glenwood High School, a public school in Durban, on a hockey scholarship.

"You are seen as a beacon of hope in terms of transformation and all of that," Rabada said. "People try and justify transformation by using players like us, using players like Lungi.

"Bringing that into the team, obviously if you are doing well and the team is doing well; those topics are going to be raised, and you are going to be seen as an example," Rabada said. "I try not to get too politically involved although I know that there are people who look at me and are influenced by it, especially black children or black people. I know that. It is very obvious. But I do know as well that there are white people who feel the same way."

Despite being held up as an example and role model, Rabada insisted that he does not feel any extra pressure or responsibility to succeed. He does not have blinkers on when it comes to South Africa's troubled past, suggesting that the wounds of apartheid "will never ever leave quickly" and "need time" to heal, but his personal motivation is simply "wanting to be the best". He is also setting up a foundation to give others the opportunities he has had.

"I started playing cricket because I liked to play sport," Rabada said. "I started doing well in cricket when I was in school. All I wanted to do from then on was to just keep improving and, hopefully, one day represent my country and then I had other aspirations like wanting to be the best and learning my skill. That's why I play cricket. That was my first aspiration as a cricketer. As you grow up you realise you are an inspiration [to others]. I do my best to give back.

"I believe in opportunity. You have to give the opportunity. From there players should get picked fairly. For instance, I've got a foundation coming up - the Kagiso Rabada Foundation. That is just going to give an opportunity. It should be like that in most other platforms, not just cricket. In the past, it was an unfair system. Right now it should be fair, but just because you are black you should not be gifted opportunities."

The full interview with Kagiso Rabada will be published on June 1.

Inter Milan have appointed former Juventus and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, the club announced Friday.

Conte's replaces Luciano Spalletti, who was sacked earlier this week after two seasons with the club. The Nerazzurri finished fourth in the Serie A standings on the final day of the season thanks to a 2-1 win over Empoli, qualifying for the Champions League.

Conte is also reunited with highly regarded former Juventus chief executive Beppe Marotta. The pair worked closely together to lead Juventus to three consecutive league titles between 2011 and 2014 before Conte left to manage Italy and then Chelsea, where he won the Premier League title in his first season and ended his second with triumph in the FA Cup.

? | OFFICIAL

Antonio Conte will be Inter's new Coach!#WelcomeAntonio pic.twitter.com/kFk8tktl7z

— Inter (@Inter_en) May 31, 2019

Conte has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea last summer, due in large part to a lengthy and acrimonious legal battle that ended this month with a Premier League manager's arbitration tribunal ruling in his favour.

Chelsea have been ordered to pay Conte around £9 million -- the amount owed for the final unfulfilled year of his contract at Stamford Bridge -- and the Italian, now free to resume his career, has returned to Serie A.

Conte's blend of touchline passion and winning tactics made him hugely popular with the majority of Chelsea supporters, but his relationship with the board became damaged beyond repair, highlighted by his repeated public and private complaints about transfer policy.

He also clashed with Diego Costa and David Luiz, while others began to grow weary of his methods. In the wake of Chelsea's FA Cup win in 2018, Willian obscured Conte in a team celebration photograph posted on his Instagram account.

Conte's refusal to resign unless the final year of his contract was paid in full, coupled with Chelsea's delay in securing Maurizio Sarri from Napoli as his replacement, created an ugly public standoff that resulted in him leading the first few days of preseason before being sacked on July 13.

Chelsea withheld Conte's compensation, claiming that several of his actions -- including his decision to inform Costa by text message that he was no longer in his plans -- had led him to breach his contract.

Meanwhile, sources have told ESPN FC that Conte argued that Chelsea's delay in sacking him resulted in him missing out on potential job opportunities elsewhere, with Paris Saint-Germain appointing Thomas Tuchel and Real Madrid turning to Julen Lopetegui prior to his departure.

TORONTO -- NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday night that, after a heated exchange involving a Utah Jazz fan and Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook back in March, he spoke with the Jazz and thanked them for how they handled its aftermath.

"I did speak directly to that team, to the entire team," Silver said at his annual news conference ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. "I wanted to make sure they were satisfied with the way it was handled. They seemed to be satisfied, as well.

"I told them that, that I appreciated the way that they had handled it and that it was not going to be tolerated in the NBA, and that we also appreciated the way they had come together with management and ownership of that team. I felt their response was spot on."

The incident, which happened on March 11, resulted in the fan being permanently banned from the arena and Westbrook being fined $25,000. Silver said he thought that the environment inside arenas has improved during his tenure, though there remains room for improvement.

"I think there's always more we can do, and I think standards in society have changed in terms of what's appropriate for people to say," Silver said. "As I've said before, I think there is a legitimate expectation that you buy your ticket, you go into an arena, I'm only searching for the right word, call it heckle, that people would say, yes, you're allowed to yell and scream when a guy's on the free-throw line or whatever else. But then there's something else that we call it hate speech, which is clearly impermissible. And I think the issue is, you know, if we just made a list, we know we wouldn't capture everything, and there's some aspect of you know it when you see it, and there's also some words that otherwise aren't incendiary, it's the way they're said or if they're said in a threatening manner.

"And so we spend a lot of time talking to security people, ushers in arenas, and a lot of our arenas or most arenas now they even put up text hotlines so that a fellow fan can communicate to the arena if somebody next to them is bothersome. So I think, as I said, there's more we can do, but we're very focused on it."

Silver also said the league wasn't worried about getting involved in how the Jazz handled the situation in Utah because of the respect he has for the team's ownership, and how he knew it would address it.

"In terms of Utah, you know, I did not see a need to step in, only because we have such tremendous confidence in the Miller family, and Gail Miller as the principal owner, I thought by her taking the court prior to the following game, speaking directly to the people in that community and saying, 'This does not represent our community,' I think that was much more powerful than me issuing a statement from all the way across country in the New York," Silver said. "And again I think they handled it very well."

The commissioner touched on several other topics during his 20-plus minute news conference, including:

• Silver said his level of confidence was "high" that there won't be another situation like the one discovered within the Dallas Mavericks of ongoing mistreatment of female employees within any of the remaining 29 NBA teams. "In terms of my level of confidence, it's high," Silver said. "We put in place several procedures post that incident in Dallas, and that includes regular direct reporting from the teams, confidential hotlines, analyses in conjunction with the league office on the hiring practices of each team. So you can never have absolute certainty, but I believe that if there was another situation like that it would have come to our attention." He also said that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had paid about half of the $10 million he had pledged to donate to women's groups in the wake of the culture of sexual harassment that was discovered within his organization. "In terms of the $10 million, the last I looked, and my information may be a little bit old, he had donated $5 million of the $10 million so far," Silver said, "and was working with the league office on his plan for contributing the additional five million."

• Silver reiterated for the latest time that the NBA is "not in expansion mode at this time." He did, however, expand on what would, in the future, get the league to consider expanding outside of its current numbers of 30 teams in 28 markets. "At the end of the day, from a league standpoint, you're in essence selling equity in your overall league, and you're selling a portion of the growth opportunity outside of that market," Silver said. "You're selling the growth opportunity in Africa, and I think what we would be looking at is whether if we're expanding, not necessarily the short-term benefit of an expansion fee, but is it additive over the long-term? Is that franchise adding something to the footprint of the league that the 30 current teams don't? So that's in essence would be the analysis." That would seem to be the latest indication that if the league was to expand, it would be more appealing to expand to an international market -- like Mexico City -- before domestic ones.

• Silver also said he isn't concerned about Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's ability to run the team going forward after recently suffering a stroke. "I'm not concerned about his ability going forward. I, of course, am concerned with his present condition," Silver said. "I mean, I don't know a lot more, but obviously it's public knowledge that he has a medical condition. So our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family, and we're just wishing that he has a complete recovery, and I have no reason to believe he won't."

TORONTO -- When the Raptors convened in Vancouver for training camp in September, Pascal Siakam wasn't assured of being the team's starting power forward. Fast-forward eight months, and he was not only starting, but starring for Toronto in the franchise's first NBA Finals game.

Siakam's sensational all-around effort -- he finished with 32 points on 14-for-17 shooting to go along with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks -- powered a balanced Toronto attack that lifted the Raptors to a 118-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday night.

"I think obviously getting some easy buckets in transition, something that I haven't really been able to do all playoffs, and I think just being able to run and getting easy baskets at the rim," Siakam said when asked what keyed his Game 1 performance. "And then, from there, just playing, just playing whatever defense gives me. That's why I always say, kind of play off of that and whatever is open, just taking it with confidence and believing in myself."

With Golden State doing everything it could to try to slow down Kawhi Leonard -- he finished with 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists but shot 5-for-14 from the field -- that created room for Siakam to take advantage of the attention directed at Leonard.

That's certainly what he did -- especially in the third quarter. Siakam didn't miss a shot in the period, going 6-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line to score 14 points, matching a 13-point quarter from Stephen Curry as Toronto parried away the Warriors' typical third-quarter surge and prevented them from reclaiming control of the proceedings.

"I think he played an amazing game obviously, but he got out in transition and our transition D was horrible, and I let him get in a rhythm in the first half, first quarter really," Warriors forward Draymond Green said.

"So I got to do a better job of taking his rhythm away, and I will, but he had a great game. But that's on me."

Siakam's success in that quarter, as well as throughout the game, saw him return to what had made him a breakout star this season, and the likely winner of the league's Most Improved Player Award: his aggression and creativity at both ends.

"The way they played him tonight, they were helping off of him and he was just able to get to his spots and get to his spaces cutting behind them, and made some 3s," Raptors guard Kyle Lowry told ESPN. "One thing about [Siakam] is he's going to keep playing and keep working no matter what.

"He's just going to keep working. He's had a couple games where he didn't play as well against Giannis [Antetokounmpo in the Eastern Conference finals], but tonight he played well."

Siakam did struggle at times against both the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals and the Milwaukee Bucks because of the massive length of Sixers center Joel Embiid and Bucks center Brook Lopez (plus Antetokounmpo).

Golden State, for all of the brilliance Green brings to the court defensively, lacks that same kind of intimidating defensive presence. And Siakam looked like a new man with the freedom to attack, knowing he wasn't in danger of getting his shot blocked or altered.

And, as a result, the Raptors looked like a team more than capable of winning three more games in this series, and winning the team's first NBA title.

"I thought his composure was great," Raptors coach Nick Nurse told ESPN. "He'd get to a spot and he'd wait and get on balance, he'd upfake, he'd turn, get the angle and move it to where he needed to move it.

"He got some cuts, he made some 3s, he did a little bit of everything. When he's hitting the 3-ball he really gets fired up. He banged in a couple early, got out a couple runouts, couple putbacks. That's how you get 30-whatever ... [doing] a little bit of everything."

That phrase -- doing a little bit of everything -- has been what has made Siakam such an integral part of what Toronto has tried to do all season. He has become a jack-of-all-trades at both ends -- shooting, driving and passing offensively, and taking on whatever assignment is necessary defensively -- essentially serving as Nurse's Swiss Army knife at either end of the court.

While he was a nice piece of the bench for the Raptors last season, that he would become this good this soon wasn't something anyone could've predicted when this season began. But ever since that training camp in Vancouver, Nurse has encouraged Siakam to be himself on the court -- to play through mistakes, to try things, to play with confidence at all times.

"It definitely helps a lot," Siakam told ESPN, of the freedom with which Nurse has allowed him to play. "When you get minutes and you have the trust of the coaches and guys just letting you play your game and be yourself, it definitely helps."